Arborwell Partners With Local Charity 'Students Rising Above'

HAYWARD, Calif., Jan. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Peter Sortwell, CEO of Arborwell professional tree management, has announced his company's partnership with local charity Students Rising Above (SRA), an organization focused on helping Bay Area kids achieve educational success despite their circumstances.  As well as providing a generous donation for the organization, Sortwell and his company Arborwell are also providing SRA with marketing support.  During the month of January 2011, CBS 5 San Francisco will air sixty-second vignettes in which Anchor Wendy Tokuda tells the story of an individual struggling student who will benefit in part from Arborwell's donation.

SRA's mission is to help extraordinary, low-income Bay Area high school students who are overcoming tremendous odds of poverty, homelessness, and neglect, to fulfill their dream of a college education.  They provide the mentoring support, financial assistance, and employment skills to be successful in school and in life.

Sortwell recently noticed that there are students right in his community who struggle because of problems at home, school, and otherwise.  "My two sons have had the good fortune to attend and reap the full benefits of great high school and college educations," said Sortwell.  "It pains me to see kids the same age face adversity at home and at school."

Students Rising Above can help them.  SRA shows us that there are thousands of students in the Bay Area who are living below the federal poverty line who need our help in order to go to college.  After hearing the success stories of SRA's students, Peter decided that Arborwell would commit to support Students Rising Above and their incredible cause.

"We are grateful for Arborwell's leadership in helping hard working students go to college," says Lynne Martin, Executive Director of Students Rising Above. "They remind us that when these students succeed, we all benefit."

About Students Rising Above

Founded in 1998 by CBS 5 Anchor, Wendy Tokuda, and Community Relations Manager, Javier Valencia, SRA began as a scholarship program supporting outstanding Bay Area students who were "beating the odds".  Students selected in the program are typically the first in their families to go to college and lack the financial resources and family support to fulfill their educational dreams.   Today, this Peabody and Emmy award winning program has grown into an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization with broad community support.  The program's diverse student body includes some of the best and brightest who attend many of the finest universities across the United States including UC Berkeley, Stanford, Princeton, Yale, and Harvard.  For more information, visit www.studentsrisingabove.org.

About Arborwell

Arborwell is a professional tree management company committed to providing arboricultural services that enhance the beauty, health, safety, and value of trees.  Arborwell's team of ISA-certified arborists studies each tree's overall system to ensure longevity and vitality from the ground up.  Arborwell offers tree pruning, removal, preservation, installation, plant health services, and arborist consultations to contractors, commercial property managers, golf courses, municipalities, and estates.  Arborwell serves all of California.  For more information, visit www.arborwell.com.

SOURCE Arborwell